[[Image:ground ctch icon.png|right|80px]][[Image:storage pond.jpg|thumb|right|300px200px|This Nigerian woman is gathering water from a local pond, which is used as a source of drinking water. But because of a Guinea worm larvae infestation, this water must be filtered to remove the water fleas that carry the parasitic larvae of the Guinea worm. Photo by E. Staub, courtesy of the CDC and The Carter Center.]]__NOTOC__ <small-title />
Natural ponds (or larger lakes) provide a good water resource for both domestic and agricultural water supply. However, some ponds are used for waste disposal and sewage, therefore remediation would be necessary before considering to use it for fresh water or agricultural use.
Aquaculture (also referred to as farm ponds) is also an excellent use of ponds to provide both food security and economic security, as the fish can be sold. Farm ponds can provide for a number of benefits that can help smallholders in their quest for development. They provide for water storage for crops, can be used to rear fish and other aquatic organisms like crustaceans, molluscs and plants, be integrated with other farm enterprises and improve and vary farm family diets.
===Suitable conditions===
The type of pond you need to build depends on the land contours (topography). Different types of ponds are suitable for flat and hilly areas. '''Excavated ponds''' are built in flat areas by digging out an area as big as needed for the pond. The water level will be below the original ground level. '''Contour ponds''' are built in hilly areas on a slope. The soil on the upper side of the pond is dug out and used to build up a dam on the lower side. The dam must be strong because the water level in the pond will
be above the original ground level.
===Construction, operations and maintenance===[[Image:fish farming pond.jpg|thumb|right|300px200px|Advantages of fish farming include food and economic security, and crop watering from runoff. Drawing: [http://wwwjourneytoforever.google.comorg/farm_library/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=19&ved=0CGkQFjAIOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjourneytoforever.org%2Ffarm_library%2FAD15AD15.pdf&ei=VBTAT8qiGuOsiALf_sX4Bw&usg=AFQjCNFVduvo_R82hs4Un2B-KjLg34oMzA&sig2=UqhRFw01IlMHiPZQDAZbuA Small-scale freshwater fish farming.]]]
Depending on the site, there are two different types of fish ponds to choose from: diversion or barrage ponds.
====Depth====
The water depth is usually 30 cm at the shallow end and 1 metre at thedeep the deep end (figure 6). The pond can be deeper than this if the pond is used as a water reservoir in the dry season. It is important that the water can be completely drained for harvesting.
===Field experiences===
In India and elsewhere larger dams or bunds were traditionally built to create ponds or ‘tanks’ to store water. Water seeps from these ponds into fields of crops and every so often the pond is de-silted and the silt used as a fertiliser. Although there has been a decline in these ponds, there are some places where they are being revived.
===Manuals, videos, and links===* [http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd22/7/ansa22129.htm Duckweed based bio-remediation of village ponds: An ecologically and economically viable integrated approach for rural development through aquaculture.]M. D. Ansal, A. Dhawan and V. I. Kaur. July 2010. * [http://docs.watsan.net/Scanned_PDF_Files/Class_Code_2_Water/272.3-78FR.pdf Freshwater Fish Pond Culture & Management.] Marilyn Chakroff, PEACE CORPS. VITA 1976. ===Acknowledgements===* Miller, James W. [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0528e/i0528e.pdf Farm ponds for water, fish and livelihoods.] FAO 2009. * Venton, Courtenay C. [http://docs.watsan.net/Downloaded_Files/PDF/Cabot-2007-Climate.pdf Climate Change and Water Resources] or ([http://www.wateraid.org/documents/climate_change_and_water_resources_1.pdf alternative link]). WaterAid. May 2007.
==Acknowledgements==* Miller, James W. [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CFcQFjAB&url=ftp%3A%2F%2Fftp.faojourneytoforever.org%2Fdocrep%2Ffao%2F011%2Fi0528e%2Fi0528e.pdf&ei=iQfAT-i8D9TXiQLalJGJCA&usg=AFQjCNEn3AC53Uq5p4SVMiaE_qfsaUlpoQ&sig2=v2usfAZS-hhD1HJPTVuHLQ Farm ponds for water, fish and livelihoods.] FAO, 2009.* [http:/farm_library/www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=17&ved=0CJABEBYwBjgK&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wateraid.org%2Fdocuments%2Fclimate_change_and_water_resources_1.pdf&ei=RQ_AT5L3DemeiQKbm_XfBw&usg=AFQjCNHMnk2xbsaMwEcfHI5EQW6ieOqFfA&sig2=YjBcjpmnpxAZefKNLN4fEw Climate Change and Water Resources.]* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=19&ved=0CGkQFjAIOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjourneytoforever.org%2Ffarm_library%2FAD15AD15.pdf&ei=VBTAT8qiGuOsiALf_sX4Bw&usg=AFQjCNFVduvo_R82hs4Un2B-KjLg34oMzA&sig2=UqhRFw01IlMHiPZQDAZbuA Small-scale freshwater fish farming.] © Agromisa Foundation and CTA, Wageningen, 2008.